Texas Tech breaks ground on new nursing building

El Paso, TX (KTSM) — The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing (GGHSON) Monday broke ground on a new building at the corner of N. Concepcion Street and Alberta Avenue in El Paso.

“With the generous support of the El Paso community, TTUHSC at El Paso has been instrumental in transforming health care along the border through its roles in education, research and patient care,” said Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance.

The 34,000-square-foot facility, which will be across from the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Medical Education Building, includes a high-tech environment for faculty and students; 12,000 square feet of simulation labs; four classrooms; and collaborative learning spaces.

Right now, the nursing school operates out of a leased building at 415 E. Yandell Drive, offering students a Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program or an alternate-entry, 12-month Second Degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

The GGHSON responded to a severe nursing shortage in the greater El Paso region by admitting its first class of Traditional BSN students in 2011. The school now has a total of 116 students and 13 faculty members, and GGHSON Founding Dean Jeanne Novotny, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, says that number is expected to grow.

“We are dedicated to expanding the quality and size of the faculty, launching new degree programs and positioning the school as a leader in academic nursing,” Novotny said. “We will expand student enrollment by opening access to a world-class nursing education for a diverse, highly competitive student body that will focus on the health care needs of the borderland.”

The GGHSON was established through a donation from the Hunt Family Foundation in 2010.

The school was named the Gayle Greve Hunt School of Nursing in honor of Gayle, the wife of El Paso businessman and philanthropist Woody Hunt.

Administrators anticipate the school will grow to 300 students in five years to counteract the long-term nursing shortage in the medically underserved El Paso region.